The New New Girl
by LadyIska
Summary: Bella's the new girl at Sunnydale High, and Buffy thinks there's something weird about her. This takes place before Bella is a vampire in the Twilight Saga.
1. Chapter 1

At first, Bella reminded me of me. _At first_. She was moody, she didn't really like to talk to people. I heard she'd transferred to Sunnydale from the Pacific Northwest so you'd think the Vitamin D would've done her good, but when I saw her in the cafeteria, hunched over her chicken nuggets, she looked sickly and pale.

Xander leaned into my shoulder, whispering, "Do you think she's a vamp?"

I shook my head. "Nah. She couldn't be at school during the day if she was."

"I hear," Xander said, chewing in my ear and gesturing with his nugget, "that vamps are different in Seattle."

"What, like they wear flannel?" I pushed him away and concentrated on sculpting the jell-o into a series of smaller blobs.

"No. Like they can _go out _in daylight."

My spoon clattered on the tray and I quickly looked down as Bella, and everyone else on this side of the cafeteria looked at me. I cleared my throat. "That's not possible. Not without some kind of magic anyway."

I knew Bella and I didn't have much in common when she came into the library _to check out a book_. Giles about fell out of his chair, trying to help/distract her from the fact that the library was mostly a cover for our own research and training. "C-c-can I help you?" he stuttered. I rolled my eyes, but quickly slid the stake I'd been sharpening into my backpack under the table.

"I'm looking for a book…."

_God help her if she said on vampires or on magic because she was already on my shit list_.

"_Wuthering Heights_," she said.

"Oh-oh-oh," Giles choked. "Yes, of course, let me find it."  
While Giles was putting in the bookshelves, I went to the checkout desk and held out my hand. "I'm Buffy."

Bella smiled (or tried to) and shook my head weakly. "I'm Bella."

"What brings you to Sunnydale?" I asked.

She looked down at her feet. "I'm staying with my aunt and uncle. I had some…problems with my dad."

I was back to feeling sympathetic, being as how me and my dad didn't exactly have a model relationship. "Gotcha. Say no more," I said. Giles returned with the book and scanned it.

"You wanna go to The Bronze this weekend? Some of my friends and I usually hang out there." I was still unsure about this girl, but I figured I should give her the benefit of the doubt and more recon before making my mind up.

"Sure," said Bella, putting _Wuthering Heights _ in her backpack, "I'll be there."

"She's coming here?" Xander asked, yelling over the music.

I nodded. "Recon."

"Okay, okay." Xander ran his fingers through his hair. "Does my hair look all right?"

"It looks _fine_," Willow insisted, rolling her eyes. "How do you know this girl?" she asked me.

"I don't, really. But you know, every new kid has to get a slayer screening. That's like a rule or something."

"Hi." The quiet voice at my side was Bella.

"You must be Bella," Willow said, shoving Xander aside and offering her hand. "I'm Willow."

"Can I..uh…get you a drink?" Xander stumbled.

Bella looked around at us. I held up my cup, "Just coke for me."

I couldn't tell if she was relieved or disappointed. "I'll have the same," she said.

"Right-o." Xander sauntered to the bar.

Like clockwork, or at least Murphy's law, I felt the arm around my shoulders. "Angel," I said, feeling like the breath had been knocked out of me; I started sweating. Angel often had that effect on me, but I hadn't been prepared to see him when I'd invited Bella out.

Xander splashed a bit of his drinks on Willow when he came back. "Angel!" He squeaked. "Good to see you."

"You too, buddy."

"Angel," I said, laying my hand on top of his, "this is Bella."

Something passed between the two when they introduced themselves to each other. I didn't know what. Did they already know each other? Maybe Xander had been right about her being a vamp.

Angel took me aside by the arm and leaned his mouth close to my ear. "Look, I came because I've heard trouble is on its way."

"Here?"

Angel nodded. "We gotta get them," he nodded towards our friends, "out of here."

"Let me handle it."

I went back to the table. I looked at Willow and Xander and then at Bella. "Um, I can't explain, but I need you all to leave."

Willow and Xander understood.

"But I want to stay and help," Willow said.

"Get out of here, Will."

Bella's gaze kept moving between all of us. "What's going on?"

"I told you. I can't -"

The vampires burst into The Bronze through the front door, sneering and slobbering.

"Shit. Get her out of here!" I yelled, grabbing a stake out of my bag.

"What are those!?" Bella cried, staring open mouthed at the vampires.

"Well explain later," Willow said, grabbing her hand. "Let's get out of here."

"Go to the back exit, I'll cover you," I said, roundhouse kicking a vamp and staking him into dust. I breathed a small sigh of relief when they'd left the building, but continued to push through the wall of vamps with Angel at my side.

When we'd staked the last one, we found ourselves in an empty Bronze. Angel's face slowly shifted back to normal. I went behind the deserted bar, wiping my sweaty palms on my pants. "Care for a drink?" I asked.

Angel laughed. "Got any O positive?"

I felt the dread coming on when Bella approached me on the campus lawn during lunch. She sat down next to me and opened her lunchbag. "So…that was weird on Friday."

"Yep," I said, biting into my sandwich.

"That guy Angel, is he your boyfriend?"

"Um…yeah. Sort of. I guess so."

"And he and those guys with the wrinkly faces, they're vampires."

"So Willow and Xander told you."

Bella nodded. "Don't be mad at them."

"I'm not…" I stopped chewing. "You don't seem freaked out at all by this."

"My boyfriend's a vampire too."

I swallowed quickly and coughed. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah. He still lives in Forks, but he might come to visit me soon."

"You're human, right?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"For now." Her face had this dream look on it.

"What? You want to be one of those uggos?"

"I want to be with Edward forever. Being a vampire is the only way to do that."

I shook my head. "Look Bella, it's not all it's cracked up to be. I mean, no sunlight, no food…and living forever couldn't be that great either."

"The vampires I know are different," she said. "They can out in the sun."

"_What_?" This was bad. This was really bad. I didn't want any daywalkers on my turf, not when I had just gotten my grades up. I had to tell Giles. I stood up.

"What's wrong?" She stood to meet my gaze.

"Bella, you don't understand. Your boyfriend might be a nice guy but I don't want his friends coming around here or I'm going to have to stake them."

Something in her twitched. "No."

I raised my eyebrows. "I was the new girl once too. I can never fit in because of what I do, but you still have a chance. I suggest you take it."

Through clenched teeth, Bella only muttered, "I don't need to fit in if it means taking orders from you."

She walked off, leaving her lunch behind. I picked it up and stuffed it into my backpack. When you're a slayer, you need as many calories as you can get.


	2. Chapter 2

It was clear that Bella wasn't going to take my advice. Instead of hanging out with the Emo/Goth crowd where she belonged, she remained a loner. Her nose in a book or her iPhone in the cafeteria.

"I mean, what if this daywalker crowd comes to Sunnydale?" I asked Angel, pacing back and forth in my room. My mom was downstairs, so I couldn't yell. All my anger was trapped.

Angel caught me on one of my paces. "I'm not entirely sure that what she says is true. About the daywalking, I mean. But if it is…"

"If it is, we're in deep shit." I threw open the lid to my trunk and began sharpening the stakes.

"Well, maybe."

"What do you mean, _maybe_?"

"I mean, we don't know anything about these Washington vampires. If Bella's boyfriend really is one of them, then it's clear they don't intend to harm humans and – " He knelt down beside me and moved my stake hand and the knife hand apart.

"If it's true than that means there might be a way for me to be out during the daytime. And spend more time with you. I wouldn't have to sneak out anymore before the sun comes up."

I laughed. "That would be nice. But you would still have to sneak out before my mom came upstairs."

I could see his point though.

* * *

"So when is your boyfriend coming to visit?" I sidled up to Bella in the hallway as she was digging through her locker. She pulled out textbook and slammed it shut.

"Why? Are you planning on staking him?" I could hear the anger….and the nervousness, in her voice.

"I _was_." I snapped my gum. "But now I just want to meet him."

Bella let out a sharp _ha _and started walking briskly.

"Look," I said, walking quickly to keep up, "I know I said those things, and I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight." I turned to stand in front of her, blocking the way. "Why don't we four go on a double date when he gets here? Me, you, your bf and Angel. You met Angel. He's not gonna hurt another vampire unless he _has to_. And I won't either."

"I don't know…."

"You have to understand that we're curious. We've never met vampires who could walk in the daytime."

"Fine. He'll be here next week. You make the reservations." She stepped to the left and started walking again.

"I'll have to look up the sunset schedule, but that should be fine. I…" I swallowed the lump in my throat, which I think was _pride_, "I look forward to it."

* * *

I picked _The Olive Garden_ because with unlimited salad and breadsticks it would be easy to hide the fact that Edward and Angel wouldn't be eating. Angel ordered wine, which must have been awkward for Edward because even though he was over 100 years old, he still had the ID of a seventeen year old.

Edward was a skinny jean kind of kid. He was pretty. Bella sat next to him, barely touching her food, looking at him with moony eyes.

"Well, I guess I'm the only one who's eating tonight," I said too loudly, grabbing another breadstick. At least Edward laughed at my joke.

Hell, I couldn't blame anyone. This was awkward as hell, and it made it even weirder that Bella had suddenly turned into a ball of mush. "So Edward, "I said, "can you really walk in daylight?"

If anyone but me was eating, they might have choked on something. "Yes…." he said with only the slightest rise of his eyebrows.

"_How_?" Angel asked.

"I don't understand," Edward said. "I just do."

"So, when you walk outside, you don't burn up and turn to ash?"

Edward shook his head.

"He sparkles," Bella said breathlessly.

Angel and I laughed.

Edward glanced down at his hands, seemingly embarrassed by his girlfriend's admission.

"_Really?" _ I said. "That's _it_?"

"As you can imagine, it's hard to remain incognito. So I don't go outside much anyway."

"Yes, but you _can._"

Edward nodded.

"And the other vampires you know, they can go out in daytime as well?"

"Yes."

"But you don't have any idea how that's possible?" Angel was almost angry at their ignorance. He proceeded to tear his napkin into tiny pieces inch-by-inch. "You _do _understand that this isn't normal?"

Edward shrugged. "As far as I remember, it's always been this way."

I grabbed Angel's hand under the table and spelled out G-I-L-E-S in his palm, hoping he'd understand.

"Check, please."


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, there does seem to be quite a lot of evidence of daywalkers throughout history," Giles stammered. The pages of the book made a cracking sound as he turned them. Willow was flipping through another, making occasional _hmmm_ sounds.

Angel was pacing. "Hmmm…what?"

"It seems like most daywalkers used a magical amulet or piece of jewelry," Willow said. "Do you think Edward has one?"

"He also said that all of his friends and family were daywalkers – do you think they could _all_ have an amulet?"

Willow sighed, leaning back in her chair. "It seems unlikely. Those pieces are too rare."

"Wait a minute, I've found something." Giles followed the words along with his finger: "If a vampire drinks the blood of a daywalking vampire, he too will become a daywalker."

"So gross."

Angel looked at me and I shrugged. "It's my gut reaction. So we get a cup of Edward's blood, Angel drinks it and voila, daywalker?"

"Not exactly," Giles said. "It seems as though the drinking of vampire blood…when the…one who's being drunk from…"

"The _drinkee_," Willow offered.

"When the…drinkee…is already a vampire…well, well, frankly, according to this text…it could kill him."

"I don't have a problem with that," I said.

"Buffy!"

"Well, he's _already_ dead. He would just be deader."

"And Edward hasn't done anything wrong, has he?" Willow asked. "At least not yet?"

"Not yet," I said, crossing my arms. "But we'll see."

**Author's Note: This chapter isn't finished. I'm looking for suggestions about where to take this going forward. Ideas? Leave them in a review! **


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